


Red Ruin

by Ruuger



Series: The Mentalist zombie universe [2]
Category: The Mentalist
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Community: zombi_fic_ation, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-08 00:19:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1919613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruuger/pseuds/Ruuger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"His world had ended when Charlotte and Angela died, and this hell on earth was only a more literal interpretation of the hell where he'd been living since he'd lost them."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Ruin

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the same universe as [Red Death](http://archiveofourown.org/works/212349), but both stories also work as a stand-alone.
> 
> Written for [zombi-fic-ation](http://zombi-fic-ation.livejournal.com/). Prompt: "It was easy for him to read people - but usually they were still alive."

Jane watched the woman as she slowly made her way across the field. She was was wearing an over-sized sweater over torn jeans, and her hair was a mass of blond curls tied up in a messy bun. An aspiring artist, perhaps, or maybe just someone caught at home on her day off. When she reached the barb wire, she didn't even notice it, pushing through the fence with the same slow but relentless shuffle. Her hair tangled in the wire and the barbs bit into her skin and clothes, but she kept going forward, dragging the fence after her. When the wire reached its limit her head snapped back, the barbs tearing hair and scalp with them.

Jane quickly looked away, swallowing down the bile rising in his throat. Van Pelt noticed him move and turned her attention towards the field. When she spotted the woman, she raised the rifle and aimed. Jane covered his ears just as the shot rang out.

"It feels wrong, shooting them like this," she said when the echoes had finally died.

Jane turned back towards the fields. The meadow between the woods and the fence was empty again, but not for long. The more they killed, the more arrived, attracted by the sounds of the gunshots. It was like trying to hold back the rising tide with a bucket. 

"They're already dead, Grace."

"It still feels wrong."

"I know."

She reached down and quickly ran her fingers across the boxes of shells next to her, as if counting them. Jane said nothing as he watched her do it. It was a self-soothing gesture, and she'd already done it twice without even realizing since they'd started their watch. They'd raided three gun stores just last week, and were in no danger of running out of ammo. Not yet, at least.

When she spoke again, she didn't look at him, her eyes trained on the edge of the woods. "Do you think this will ever end?"

He wanted to lie, but couldn't. His world had ended when Charlotte and Angela died, and this hell on earth was only a more literal interpretation of the hell where he'd been living since he'd lost them.

"No."

She looked up, and for a moment he thought she was going to argue with him, but then she just turned away without a word, and continued reloading her gun. Though he did not believe in god, he felt another bit of himself die at the knowledge that neither did she anymore. He wished that he had some words of comfort to offer her, to reassure her that there was some good still left in the world, something worth fighting for, but there was nothing he could say. 

Not for the first time, his thoughts strayed back to Red John. Was he still out there, surviving in some little safe haven like this, or had he already been killed? From the corner of his eye, Jane could see another figure appear at the edge of the forest. It stood there for a moment, swaying, before beginning its slow march across the field. 

Or maybe he'd been turned, just another rotting corpse in the mindless hordes that now ruled the earth.

Jane nudged Van Pelt's arm and pointed towards the woods.

"There's another one."

She finished reloading her gun and took aim again, and this time, when she pulled the trigger, Jane didn't look away.


End file.
